


The labyrinth

by CrowsAce



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Bottom Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Brace yourself, Confused Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Angst, Fae & Fairies, Fae Magic, Goblins, I mean if you're familiar with my work then you know, Kid Thomas Sanders, Logan as the Goblin King, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Rape/Non-con Elements, Roman as Sarah, The Goblin City (Labyrinth), The Labyrinth AU, The rating/archive warnings may change, Thomas Sanders as Toby, Top Logic | Logan Sanders, baby Thomas Sanders, possesive Logic | Logan Sanders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26723383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrowsAce/pseuds/CrowsAce
Summary: This is a labyrinth au, starts of like the film, but a few things will be different.Roman didn't mean to wish his baby brother Thomas away, well... he did but he didn'tactuallythink it would happen, now he has to race against the clock to get his baby brother back, will he and his new friends be able to make it on time, or will Logan the goblin king get the best of him?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 15
Kudos: 41





	1. An unfortunate wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _No one can blame you  
>  For walking away.  
> Too much rejection.  
> No love injection._
> 
> _Life can't be easy.  
>  It's not always swell.  
> Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl,  
> 'Cause it hurts like hell ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my labyrinth au, the first two chapters will be very similar if not pretty much the same as the opening scene of the film with a few changes to suite the story. It won't be exactly like the film, in fact this will contain some smut scene's in the future so be warned. I'll put any warning I think are needed in the beginning notes, if you see something you think needs to be warned about and I haven't tagged it just let me know.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this story~

A boy of sixteen stared forlornly ahead, he wore flowers in his hair, and a baggy white collared blouse with a white vest that had golden detailed swirls, he paired this with red skinny jeans and black boots, boots that made his steps echo as he walked forward towards an unseen character. 

“Give me the child.” He said, his voice as firm as his gaze, his chin held up high unwilling to back down. “Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered.” He walked closer to the edge. “I have fought my way here, to the castle beyond the goblin city.” He stopped walking, another step and he would surely fall. “To take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great… “ His brows furrowed as he struggled to remember what he needed to say next.

  
  


The sound of people laughing and something heavy being dragged across the ground from just behind the theater doors pulled the boy out of his immersion, he quickly shook that off though and looked forward once more.

  
  


“For my will is as strong as yours… and my kingdom as great… my kingdom…”

He let out an annoyed groan and walked away from the stage edge muttering to himself as he went, “Damn it! I can never remember that line.” 

He stopped in the middle of the stage and looked back over his shoulder, grim determination in his eyes. 

“You have no power over me.” 

The sound of the school fire alarm startled him so badly he jumped a meter in the air, for once in his life he was thankful he didn’t have an audience to see that. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, “Teens.” he mumbled. 

He startled once more - though not as badly - when his phone alarm went off, looking at the screen his eyes widened when he saw the time. “Oh no! I don’t believe it, it's seven o’clock! I’m late!” 

He quickly rushed to the side of the stage to grab his bag before hoping off, shoving his earphones in his ears, blaring music as he ran through the halls to the outside, then across the field and down the streets, running as fast as he could to get home.

And just to add to his luck, the moment he left the school it started raining.

  
  


God he felt like crying.

  
  


When he finally got back home his step mother was there at the door waiting, her hands on her hips as she watched him approach.

  
“Oh it’s not fair!” He cried, it really wasn’t to him.

“Oh really!” She shot back.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the woman pitifully. “I’m sorry.” 

“Well don’t just stand there in the rain, come on.”

  
  


Roman was quick to obey, rushing to get in and out of the cold rain, vaguely aware that the flowers he had in his hair for his costume had partially come out and tangled a little in his hair.

“Roman you’re an hour late!” His step mother scolded, following him inside.

“I said I’m sorry.” He shot back.

“Let me finish! Your father and I go out very rarely” - “You guys go out every weekend!” - “ _And_ I ask you to baby sit, only if it won't interfere with your plans.”

Roman gave her a disbelieving look. “Well how would you know? You don’t know any of my plans, you don’t even ask me anymore!” He complained walking up the stairs to go to his room.

“Well, I assume you’d tell me if you had a date! I’d like if you had a date, young boys your age should be having dates!” Roman gaped at her as he paused momentarily on the stairs. 

“Ah, Roman you’re home, we were worried about you.” His father called out, coming out of one of the rooms carrying a crying baby. 

“I can’t do anything right, can I!” He cried out ignoring his father and running off to his room to get away from them both, his step mother in particular. 

He could hear them say something but couldn’t make out what over the sound of Thomas crying. Thomas was always crying. 

Slamming his bedroom door shut Roman practically threw himself onto the chair at his desk, grumbling to himself as he pulled out the script for his school play and chucked it on the desk. He leaned back on his chair and let out a tired sigh. _Dates_. Why did they always zone in on his love life or lack thereof.

Why not ask him about the play he was going to be in for the school, another lead role, did they not care about that anymore, about his dreams, he was _sixteen_ , did he really have to care about that sort of stuff now? 

Besides, being the house slave didn’t really give him time to focus on his love life, he was too busy being the nanny. 

… Speaking off.

There was a knock at his door, “Roman, can I talk to you?”

Roman pulled the flower crown from his hair and chucked that on the desk too, “There’s nothing to talk about… you better hurry or you’re gonna be late.”

“We’ve fed Thomas and put him to bed. We really do need to leave now but we will be back by midnight.” 

Roman listened to the sound of footsteps retreating, he let out an offended scoff as he heard the front door slam shut, “You really wanted to talk to me didn’t you, practically broke down the door!” He cried out, flinging himself onto the bed. 

He began reaching for something, something that was no longer there, he sat up and looked around, his red dragon plushie his real mother had given him when he was little was gone.

“Lancelot… Someone’s been in my room again,” He whined getting back off his bed and heading to his dad and step mother room, “I hate it, I hate it.”

Once inside he flicked on the light, Thomas was still screaming and crying and now stood up in his cot, “I hate you! I hate you!” He cried out, picking the red dragon up off the floor before putting it on the bed, he then stormed over to the crib, “Someone save me, someone take me away from this awful place.” He grabbed Thomas and made him lie down, “What do you want? You want a story, huh? Okay, once upon a time there was a beautiful young boy, who’s step mother always made him stay at home with the baby, and the baby was a spoiled child, and he wanted everything for himself, and the young boy was practically a slave.” 

He moved some of the blankets to cover Thomas in the hopes the weight of them will make him tired enough to go to sleep, it didn’t seem to be working. 

“But what no one knew, was that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the boy and he had given him certain powers. So one night when the baby had been particularly cruel to him, he called on the goblins for help.”

  
  


And the goblins _were_ listening. **_“Listen.”_ ** One hissed.

  
  


Roman gripped the edges of the crib tightly, “‘Say your right words’ the goblin said, ‘And we’ll take the baby to the goblin city, and you will be free.’”

  
  


The goblins tittered to each other excitedly, listening intently now to the young boys words.

  
  


“But the boy knew that the king of the goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever and ever and turn it into a goblin, and so the boy suffered in silence until one night when he was tired from a day of school and house work, and he was hurt by the harsh words of his stepmother and he could no longer stand it…” Thomas gave his loudest cry yet, so with a sigh he reached down and picked the baby up, trying to bounce him gently to get him to settle down

“Oh all right, all right! Knock it off. Come on. Stop it, stop it! I'll say the words. No, I mustn't. I mustn't say.”

The goblins seemed to lean in close despite not being near the boy, eagerly awaiting the words that will come next.

“I wish, I wish…”

**_“He’s going to say it!”_ ** One of the goblins hissed. **_“Say what?”_ ** asked another more slower one only to be hissed at by all of the others. **_“Shut up!”_ ** One cried, **_“Sorry.” “You both shut up!” “Listen! He’s going to say the words!”_ **

  
  


“I can bear it no longer!” Roman cried out, holding Thomas high up, “Goblin king, goblin king, wherever you may be. Take this child of mine far away from me!”

  
  


All the goblins let out a disappointed groan, **_“That’s not it!_ ** ” one whined as the others nodded in agreement, **_“Where'd he learn that rubbish? It doesn't even start with 'I wish'!”_ **

  
  


Roman really was at his wits end right now, Thomas was starting to make his head ring, “Oh Thomas, stop it! Oh I wish I did know what to say to make the goblins take you away.” 

  
  


**_"’I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now.’ That's not hard is it?”_ **

They all nodded and hissed their agreements and annoyance.

  
  


“I wish… I wish.”

  
  


**_“...Did he say it?” “SHUT UP!”_ **

Roman let out a frustrated sigh and put Thomas back down in the crib before walking over to the door to turn out the lights and leave. 

He turned back to stare at the crib, at his crying brother, “I wish the goblins _would_ come and take you away. Right now.” 

He left the room.

  
  


And Thomas stopped crying.


	2. The game begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _But down in the underground  
>  You'll find someone true.  
> Down in the underground;  
> A land serene;  
> A crystal moon.  
> Ahh~_
> 
> _It's only forever.  
>  Not long at all.  
> Lost and lonely.  
> That's underground.  
> Underground~ ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Controlling Logan (It's like in the movie), hints of possessive behavior

Roman froze in the hallway, then slowly turned back to the bedroom door. 

The silence was eerie after all that crying.

“Thomas?” He hesitantly called out… Goblins weren’t real, neither was the king of them, it was just a play… right? He walked back to the doorway. “Thomas are you alright?” He tried putting the lights on, but it wouldn’t work. “Why aren’t you crying?” 

He walked into the room, he could feel the hair on his body stand up as he felt eyes from all over watching him, he swallowed nervously as he approached the crib, he could see movement from within. 

Odd noises and shadows seemed to be all around him now, but he kept his focus on the crib, something was inside of it, and there was something inside him screaming at him that whatever it was _wasn’t_ his brother. He reached into the crib, hand shaking, as he grabbed the blanket. He mentally counted down from three and pulled the sheet back, there was nothing there. 

He jumped when there was banging on the window, a white barn owl was trying to get in, there was laughing all around the room now, he could see the shapes moving about more clearly now as the creatures seemed to get bolder. His head was spinning as he tried to keep and eye on everything at once. Panic was clawing it was up his chest. This wasn’t meant to happen! It wasn’t meant to be real!

The doors opened with a bag, he couldn’t stop himself from squeaking and taking a step back in surprise as the owl flew in and around his head. 

Then there was no owl, but in its place a man.

Perhaps the most beautiful man Roman had ever since, his features seemed other worldly, but if he was who Roman thought him to be then that wasn’t really a surprise.

“You're him, aren't you?” He began, watching the way that smirk seemed to widen with a smug satisfaction, “You're the goblin king.” Roman breathed, his eyes wide. 

It had to be a crime to look that good whilst looking cocky at the same time, the man had long dark hair that seemed to be both wild and tamed at the same time, he wore dark clothes that look smart, victorian and yet comfy all at once. He was intimidating to look at that was for sure. 

“I want my brother back, please, if it's all the same.” He requested nervously, not knowing how this goblin king would respond.

The man gave a mock sympathetic look as he crossed his arms, “What’s said is said.” His deep voice seemed to resonate somewhere inside of Roman, making the young boy shudder.

“But I didn’t mean it!” He pleaded.

  
  


The king - _Logan_ , his mind seemed to supply - looked far too amused for Roman’s liking.

“Oh, you didn’t?”

Roman took a step closer to the man, “Please, where is he?

Logan took a step forward as well, smirk still firmly in place, “You know very well where he is.”

Roman bit his lip, unsure on what his next move should be, “Please bring him back to me. Please.”

Logan walked closer, “Roman go back to your room. Play with your toys and your costumes. Forget about the baby.”

“I can't.” Roman was just about ready to cry

“I've brought you a gift.” Logan offered, holding up his hand so Roman could see him twirling about something that looked like a glass bubble.

“What is it?” He couldn’t help but ask, slightly awed. 

“It's a crystal. Nothing more. But if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams.” He held out for Roman to see, tempting him closer before pulling it back, “But this is not a gift for an ordinary boy who takes care of a screaming baby. Do you want it? Then forget the baby.”

“I can't. It isn't that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but I want my brother back. He must be so scared.” Roman was fighting to keep the tears back now. This wasn’t meant to happen.

Logan stopped smirking and was now giving him a cold and calculated look. “ _Roman_ ,” Roman gave a shudder, his name a warning on the others tongue, he sucked in a sharp breath when the glass was turned into a snake.

“Don't defy me.” Logan threw the snake.

Roman squealed and grabbed the snake from around his neck, feeling it change within his hands to a soft material, a scarf he noticed, before chucking it on the floor where it then shifted into a creature - maybe a goblin - that laughed at him then ran away. Other creatures started laughing loudly from behind him, but turning quickly all he saw was their retreating forms as they hid themselves away.

Turning to look back at the goblin king, he let out another squeak. The man was right in front of him now, looking down at him with this look in his eyes that seemed soft and dark. Quite the contrast that left him quaking where he stood.

“You’re no match for me Roman.” His tone was so casual despite the words he uttered and how close he was. Roman could feel his heart beating in override as Logan leaned down closer, a hand coming up to gently stroke his cheek.

Roman pulled back.

“But I have to have my brother back!” He implored, he could feel a tear run down.

Logan moved to the side, unblocking Roman’s view of the window, the outside world had changed. Logan pointed to the distance where Roman could vaguely see a castle on top of a hill.

“He’s there in my castle.” Logan informed him, once more stepping close to the boy, thumb whipping away the tears. Logan savoured the moment of cradling the teens head in his hands, “Do you still want to look for him?” He asked gently, enjoying the way the boys' eyelids fluttered, those long lashes fanning across his face, Logan never wanted to let him go. Blue eyes peered back up at him before looking past him.

“Is that the castle beyond the Goblin City?” Roman asked. This time it was Logan that let go and backed away, he wished to hold on longer but there was a game to win first.

“Turn back Roman. Turn back before it's too late.” He gently warned, even though he wanted the boy to stay in his world, these circumstances weren’t quite right. He wanted Roman to change his mind about his little brother.

But Roman was nothing if not determined.

“I can't. Don't you understand that I can't?

Logan let out a sigh, “What a pity.”

Roman walked past him, looking over at the castle trying to gauge the distance between his starting point and the end goal. “It doesn't look that far.” He said confidently.

Logan chuckled, “It's further than you think and time is short.” With a wave of his hand a clock face appeared before them, “You have 13 hours in which to solve the labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us forever.” Roman bit his lip as he watched Logan fade from existence, that smirk slowly settling back on his face as he went. “Such a pity.”

Logan’s last words seemed to echo around him before Roman took a few deep breaths, and turned back to where the castle was.

He already felt so drained, but he had to keep it together and stay strong, Thomas was relying on him! 

His tone was arrogant as he tried to reassure himself, “The labyrinth doesn’t look that hard. Come on feet!”

And so it began, Roman took off looking for the entrance to the labyrinth, as he went he tried to recall how it all went in his script, yet he couldn’t seem to remember. A shame, such knowledge would have surely proved useful right about now.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out things will be a little different than the movie - some of them same things will happen but most of it will proceed differently


	3. Into the Labyrinth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _You remind me of the babe  
>  (What babe?)  
> Babe with the power  
> (What power?)_
> 
> _Power of voodoo  
>  (Who do?)  
> You do  
> (Do what?)  
> Remind me of the babe ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Slight non-con touching at the end (but nothing bad)

Roman was amazed at how barren the outside of the labyrinth looked, it seemed like the place was surrounded by a desert. 

In the distance he could see a figure by a pond, a figure that was… well…

“Umm, excuse me…” Roman awkwardly called out, startling the figure.

The figure jumped and was quick to zip his pants back up, “Oh excuse me!” The figure exclaimed in embarrassment, turning around to face him only for the bashful expression to melt into a frown. “Oh, it's you.” 

The figure was wearing a mix match of clothing, most of it seemingly stitched up with a purple tartan design, the purple matched his eyes. The creature looked glum, all hunched up, now facing away from Roman to get back to whatever task he was doing.

Roman was quick to follow. “Umm Sir, please. Perchance can you help me? I have to get into this labyrinth you see.”

The figure grunted but otherwise ignored him, aiming some sort of spray can at some sort of flying bugs, counting up as he sprayed. 

One flew up to him, his eyes widened and he smiled at the sight, it was no bug but a fairy, “Oh how sweet.” he cooed, only for the figure to spray it down.

Roman gave him a horrified look before gently kneeling down and picking the creature up, turning back to gaze at the figure, “How could you?! Poor thing.” 

The figure ignored him as he gently cooed at the creature, only to almost drop it, “It bit me!”

The figure scoffed, “Well what did you expect?” He sprayed another one down. Roman continued to scowl at him, it may have bitten him but he didn’t want the poor things suffering. “I thought fairies did nice things.” He mumbled.

Rolling his eyes the figure let out another scoff, “Shows what you know then, don’t it.” He sprayed down another one.

“You’re horrible!” 

“Huh? No I ain’t, I’m Virgil. Who are you?”

Roman stood up and whipped the dust from his legs, “I’m Roman.” he informed.

“That’s what I thought.” Virgil said once again scoffing and shaking his head, spraying down another fairy.

“Do you know where the entrance to the labyrinth is?” Roman asked

“Maybe.” Virgil muttered, eyes tracking the fairies as they danced through the air.

“Well,” Roman began, clearly getting frustrated, “Where is it?”

He watched Virgil mumble to himself, laughing whenever he would successfully knock a fairy down. After a moment of silence Roman waved his arms about in annoyance, “I said where is it?”

“Where is what?”

“The door!” Roman cried out exasperatedly 

“What door?” 

  
  


Roman let out a groan, “Oh it hopeless trying to ask you anything.”

Virgil turned to look at him, his purple eyes peering at him in a way that clearly conveyed he found Roman’s suffering amusing. “Not if you ask the right questions.”

Roman thought about that for a moment, long enough for Virgil to turn and start moving away.

“Alright, ok… How do I get into the labyrinth?”

Virgil finally straightened up and turned back with a grin, “Ahh, now that's more like it.” He walked back over to Roman, “To get in, you have to go through there.”

Virgil pointed to what Roman thought was just a blank wall, but now there appeared to be iron doors, they slowly creaked open, a mist of fog pouring out from them. Roman watched fearfully as they did so, it was all so very eerie to him, though from next to him, Virgil remained unbothered.

Though his voice held a note of uncertainty, “You ugh, you sure you want to go in there?”

Roman swallowed past the fear and held his chin up high. “Yes, I’m afraid I must.”

He took a deep breath then slowly walked over to the entrance, stepping through he looked around, it seemed his only option was to either go left or right.

“Cozy, isn’t it.” A voice sounded behind him, making him jump and spin around, Virgil just laughed at the scared teen, whipping tears of mirth from his eyes.

“Hahaha oh my… now, which way would you go, left or right?”

Roman did his best to assess the paths, seeing if there was anything to distinguish between them, there wasn’t. 

“They both look the same.” He mumbled.

Virgil just scoffed at him, something he seemed to do often, “Well, you're not gonna get very far.”

“Which way would you go then?” Roman questioned.

Virgil looked down both ways thoughtfully, “Me? I wouldn't go either way.”

It was Roman’s turn to scoff this time, rolling his eyes, “If that's all the help you're gonna be, you can just leave.”

Virgil just frowned at him, walking up close and pointing a finger accusingly, “You know your problem, you take too many things for granted. Take this labyrinth. Even if you get to the center, you'll never get out again.”

“That's your opinion.” He replied haughtily.

Another scoff, “Well it's a lot better than yours.”

“Thanks for nothing, Vigil.”.

Virgil’s frown deepened, as he let out an annoyed growl and moved to brush past the teen, “It's _Virgil_! And don't say I didn't warn you.”

With that Virgil left the labyrinth, the iron doors closing behind him.

Looking between his options, Roman decided to go _left._

He started off just walking, hoping to see a turn at some point, no luck so far. He picked up speed, before long he was sprinting down the path, though he was quick to tire out.

He looked all over but he could see no opening, nothing but the long stretch of the path. 

“Oh this isn’t fair! Why is it called a labyrinth if there aren’t even any turns!” He whined.

  
  


Unaware of yellow eyes watching him curiously.

  
  


Roman pressed his back up against the wall, “It just goes on and on! Or maybe… maybe it doesn’t, maybe I’m just taking things for granted.”  
  


He started running once more, but quickly lost faith in his plan. 

He let out another frustrated cry and slid down a wall, “This just isn’t fair!” He wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face in them.

  
  


“Yesss, you’ll find that a common theme in life.” A voice hissed, startling Roman.

He looked up to see a pair of yellow eyes looking at him.

“Umm, I’m sorry what?” 

The eyes vanished, and Roman stood up and looked around, he could hear movement, the sound of something slithering on the ground but he couldn’t see anything.

He spun around a few times searching for the person that spoke “Hello?”

He froze when he felt a hand rest on his hip and a mouth by his ear, the voice from before purred out a, “Hello, shall we discuss why _your_ life’s unfair?.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now this is where things get different, in the film Sarah goes right, in this Roman goes left


	4. A false start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: with holding of life changing information, manipulation

Roman's breath hitched as he felt a forked tongue flick against his ear. 

"A poor pretty little thing like you must  _ know all about suffering,  _ yes? That is why you find life unfair, so tell me pretty one, what suffering have you been through that was so unjust?"

The hand on his hip tightened, was he being challenged? He was definitely being judged.

"How about losing my mother and then getting a stepmother that treats me like a slave." He responded bitterly.

The body pulled away from him then walked around, Roman blinked up at the creature, half of him looked human the other half however was covered in scales. 

The man raised an eyebrow then smirked at him, as he spoke Roman could see just how sharp his teeth were, "Something caught your eye pretty one?" 

Roman blushed, he hadn't meant to stare.

"Oh! Umm, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare."

The man waved a hand brushing him off, "Oh I don't mind, a pretty thing like you checking me out, I'll take it as a compliment~" he purred.

  
  


Roman began mentally willing his cheeks to un-redden themselves.

The man hummed thoughtfully, "Whilst what you've been through is sad, was wishing your brother away the  _ right thing _ for you to do?"

Roman wasn't going to question how the other knew of his misdeed, even Virgil seemed to imply he knew all about it.

"I didn't mean to!"

The man gave him a look.

"Well, alright I did mean it but I didn't  _ mean  _ it, it was never supposed to happen, this was all never meant to be real!"

The man rolled his eyes, "Such a silly little thing, and I suppose you plan on marching to that castle to get your brother back?"

Roman's eyes lit up, perhaps this man would be willing to help him.

"That's right! Can you help - "

"No." The man deadpanned.

Roman blinked. "No… you… you won't even point me in the right direction?"

"Turn back little one, you won't win against him, you might as well give up and save yourself."

Roman shook his head, "No! I'm not leaving here without Thomas! Why can no one understand this! I have to fix my mistakes."

"Well," the man began in a dry tone, eyeing his cuticles, "I commend you for your bravery and wanting to right your wrong," then yellow eyes looked into blue, "but I condemn you, for simply condemning yourself." 

The man turned and began walking away, shaking his head as he went, "Such a shame, such a waste."

  
  


Roman frowned watching him go. 

"Please!" He called out after the man, "Won't you at least tell me where a turning is?"

The man paused and looked back at him with disbelief, "You're kidding right? Surely you were just being dramatic earlier."

Roman huffed and crossed his arms, "I wasn't being dramatic, you can clearly see there are no turns here!"

"Oh my… If this doesn't prove my point that you can't do this -"

"I don't care for your opinion of me, the only thing I care about is finding my brother, surely you could spare the smallest bit of information."

"And what do I get for it?"

"I-Well… what would you want?"

A smirk lit up his face, "How about a kiss?"

Roman blushed, it was just a kiss right? He could do that, he's done it before enough times for his plays, this wasn't any different.

"I-umm if umm tha-that's what you umm would like then… alright." He stumbled over his words, his face once again heating up.

He let his eyes fall to the ground, unable to look at the other's smug face as he walked closer.

The man - Janus - was very satisfied with where this was going, it was just a simple kiss to the boy, in reality it was going to make the boy constantly think of him, then he wouldn't want to leave  _ his  _ side, which would stop him from trying to rescue his brother, stop him from heading to the castle… if this boy became a possession of the goblin king, then who knows how that power will go to his head, that man was quite cocky enough as it is, a tyrant that will only grow worse with this pretty thing in his grasp, not to mention this will be a good enough revenge against that tyrant king for cursing him so.

Plus having a pretty little thing all for himself was a lovely bonus.

  
  


Approaching the boy he gently cupped his face, bringing him up so they were looking into each other's eyes.  _ Red suits the boy _ , he thought admiring how lovely that flushed face was.

He leant forward, resting his forehead against the other's, "A kiss for information, are you sure?"

Was it really his fault if the boy didn't ask if there was any consequences for his choices, one would think he would have learnt by now.

"I… yes."

_ Such a silly little thing.  _

Smirk still firmly in place, he began to lean in slowly, not wanting to startle the boy and have him ending up pulling away and changing his mind.

  
  


He needn't have worried. 

Because before he could fully close the gap a body knocked him away.

"I don't bloody think so!" 

Roman stepped back, eyes wide, looking from the knocked down man to Virgil,  _ where had he come from? _

Virgil went from glaring at the man to glaring at Roman, his gaze softening a little.

"Are you alright, he didn't actually do anything to you did he?"

"He-I-no… Why did you knock him down?"

" _ Yes Virgil,  _ why  _ didn't  _ you knock me down?"

Roman frowned at the wording. Virgil growled down at the snake man, "Because  _ Janus,  _ nobody should have to suffer being kissed by you, why are you trying to deceive him so?"

Realising he was missing a lot of context, Roman kept silent, eyes flickering between the two in confusion.

"He wants to go to the castle."

"I am aware."

"You  _ don't know  _ what will happen if  _ he _ gets his claws in him."

Virgil scoffed, "Please, look at him," he said jerking his head in Roman's direction, "Do you really think he will be able to solve the labyrinth, he's still at the start and his time is ticking, he won't solve it."

Roman felt his heart stutter in his chest, how much time had gone by? Surely not a lot, but with such a limited time every second truly does count.

He began looking around as the other continued their odd bickering.

He thought back over what Virgil had said, how he wouldn't go either way then he thought of how he saw the man's yellow eyes seemingly peering from the wall before him, how the man gave him a disbelieving look because he couldn't believe that Roman didn't see them… so… what if, they were there… he couldn't see the gate earlier, but it was there. With one last look back at the other's, he turned his gaze forward to the wall. It looked like an ordinary wall.

  
  


But here he couldn't take things for granted. With his hands held out before him, he approached the wall… and walked through it.

Roman grinned triumphantly, he didn't bother checking on the other two, both obviously not wanting him to succeed so there was no point in him wasting his time.

He had a baby brother to save after all.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rushed this out before getting my tattoo, as I type this I'm standing in the studio waiting to get it stencilled on~


	5. Which way is the right way?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I saw my baby  
>  Crying hard as babe could cry  
> What could I do?_
> 
> _My baby's love had gone_  
>  And left my baby blue  
> Nobody knew!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Non-con kissing (Roman is in a haze and even though he's responding positively, doesn't mean its ok) mentions of dark enclosed spaces

It wasn’t long before the voices of Janus and Virgil faded to nothing, neither seemingly noticing that Roman was no longer dithering by them.

Roman had to be quick and clever now, making up for the false start, as he made his way through the maze and tired his best to aim for the castle. 

Now that he was being extra vigilant he noticed how there were openings and turns everywhere, this led to a lot of dead ends and him spinning around in circles, confused on where he had just come from. That was when he got the bright idea and remembered he had a red marker in his pocket, he had it with him earlier when he was underlying or circling words from his script.

  
  


_This will make things so much easier!_

He thought happily to himself as he place down arrows so he knew which way he had come from, unaware that as he went, something else was turning the tiles, it wasn’t till twenty minutes later, when he turned back from a dead did he notice, his eyes widening with disbelief before annoyance took over.

“What am I supposed to do if this labyrinth is tricking me, someone’s been changing my marks and there’s nothing but dead ends all around me! Oh that’s just not fair!”

  
  


“That’s right, it isn’t!” A voiced crowed out, followed by a group laughing.

Roman span around, and what was once a dead end behind him, was now an area with two doors with some creatures guarding it, watching him with amusement.

“B-but, this was a dead end a second ago!”

“No no, this was always _here_ , the dead ends behind you.” 

Once again Roman span around, lo and behold, what was once a pathway - one which he had travelled through - was now gone.

“Oh what’s going on!” He cried, feeling seconds away to cry. “Where am I supposed to go now?”

  
  


“Well,” One of the voices called out, drawing his attention back, “You could always go through one of these doors.”

  
  


Roman stared blankly at the creatures, they all grinned back.

“What’s the catch?” 

“No catch, it’s easy to open.”

Roman slowly approached.

“We should perhaps mention that one door leads to the centre of the labyrinth and the other to _certain death._ ”

Roman paused and gave them a look, his hands coming up to rest on his hip as he glared at the creatures. 

“But you just said there wasn’t a catch!”

“There isn’t! The doors will easily open and close, there’s no catch on them to stop them.”

Blinking rapidly Roman pulled back from the creatures, looked up towards the red sky, and took a deep breath. 

“I’d rather not go through either doors then, thank you. Can you point me to another opening?”

“Oh sure, there’s one over there, it should take you to the castle, if you follow it and keep to the left.” The creatures gave him a look over. “Though we wouldn’t recommend you head there, keep to the right instead, you may find the exit.”

“Or death, same thing really!” Another creature called out, making them all start laughing.

“Thanks.” He responded curtly, before turning away and heading over to the opening.

  
  


At least they had given him more direction than anyone else, if he kept to the left and hurried, then he would be at the castle in no time, then he’ll be able to get his baby brother back and get out of this nightmare!

What could go wrong?

  
  


Apparently a lot. 

All of a sudden the ground around him started shaking, all the individual tiles were rumbling and then they began _falling_. 

  
  


Roman couldn’t even see where they went as they shrunk into the darkness, there wasn’t even a sound, nothing to suggest they had hit the ground, which meant they were still falling, just how deep did it go?

Oh well, he didn’t really want to find out, he quickly ran and jumped to get away, but it seemed this peculiar phenomenon was following him, as ahead of him he could see that the tiles were fine. He glanced back over his shoulder to see the tiles were back in place. 

  
  


Oh? _Oh_.

It wasn’t real was it?

None of the tiles were actually falling, this was just a cruel prank, well jokes on the king then, because he wasn’t going to run about like a headless chicken anymore!

  
  
  


Instead he was going to flail his arms about like a terrified bird that was caught by something and unable to escape, an equally terrified squeak escaping him as the air rushed out from under him as he plummeted down. 

  
  


So… not a prank.

  
  


“Help!” He screamed, as he fell, nothing but darkness around him, the light of the sky from where he just was was getting further away, he could just make out the tiles reforming themselves before he was totally encompassed by the darkness, he could feel wind rushing by him, the only thing indicating that he was still falling.

“Please?” He whispered, tears falling down his face, he didn’t want to be trapped falling in this void forever.

  
  


Suddenly he was surrounded by what looked like bubbles… no, not bubbles, glass crystals, like the one the goblin king had offered him earlier.

There was three of them spinning around him, they began to softly glow, lighting up the area around him, he was still falling but now he could see the area around him, at some point he must have fallen into a tunnel, the rock wall was jagged and damp, and cover in what looked like green slime, he was honestly surprised he hadn’t ended up hitting the wall. 

One of the crystal balls floated closer to his face, pressing against his cheek, the cool feeling of the crystal felt like a caress, it had him closing his eyes. Then the other two crystals pressed against him, the sensation of them altogether began to shift to the sudden feeling of being enveloped by something warm. 

His mind went blank as a soft sigh escaped from him, his face was pressed against something firm but soft, he was barely aware that there were arms wrapped around him, a hand gently running up and down his back.

  
  


This felt so nice, his head felt full, as if someone had opened it up and poured in some cotton candy.

“My poor Roman, you’re just not cut out for this kind of task, are you. Come dear,” A finger gently guided his head up, so he was looking up at the goblin king, the king was smiling softly down at him. “Let me take _you_ away, away from all of this and more, away from your responsibilities, wouldn’t you like that? Just say the words and _I will do anything_ for you.”

Roman felt like there was a layer of mist surrounding him, making him feel soft and slow and just for too heavy, “Logan?”

  
  


Said man just continued to smile, then before he realised what was happening he was kissing him, Roman let out a needy moan, he had never been kissed before, and as far as first kisses go he probably just won the jackpot.

It was just a chaste kiss, nothing too heavy, but it was perfect.

  
  


… To think Janus had almost been his first kiss…

Janus…

  
  


There was something he was forgetting… wasn’t there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be longer but I thought this would make a good cut off point~


End file.
